Improvement in combined bier and elevator



D. W. su 1.- W. ALTHOU'SE.

Combined Bier and Elevator'.

Iaten'cecl lan. 2

Ell

N.PETERS, PHOTO-LITHGGRAPHEH, WASHINGTON. D. c.

'UNITED STATES PATENT Orf-FICE.

DANIEL WV. ALTHOUSE AND ISAAC W. ALTHOUSE, OF CENTREPORT, PA.

IMPRVEMENT IN COMBINED BIER AND ELEVATOR.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N. 211,542, dated January 21, 1879 5 application filed December 17, 1878.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, DANIEL lV. ALTHOUSE and ISAAC WV. ALTHOUsE, of Centreport, in the county of Berks and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Combined Extension Bier and Elevator; and we do hereby declare 'the following' to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use it, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form part'of this specification.

Our-invention relates to a combined extension bier and elevator; and it consists in making the bier extensible in length and width, and providing it with elevating devices, whereby the cofn may be lowered into the grave with perfect ease, as will be more fully described hereinafter. i

Figure l is a side elevation of our bier. Fig. 2 is a plan, and Fig. 3 is an end view, of the same.

a represents the frame of the bier, made rectangular in form, and provided with the sliding frame b, whereby the length of the bier may be made longer or shorter, to accommodate differentlengths ofcofins. rEhe end crosspieces care held together by loops, and provided with set-screws for clamping them together at any desired point. By loosening the screws and drawing these cross-bars ontward past each other the bier is made to accommodate dierent widths of graves and dit'- ferent-sized cofns.

At each end of the bier are two hinged handles7 d, for carrying the bier by, which drop downward out of the way as soon as released.

At or near each corner of the frame is hinged a curved or otherwise suitably-formed support, e, which incline toward each other, and have their ends detachably fastened together by means of the pins e'. J ournaled upon these supports are .the two elevating-shafts g, which have the gear-wheels h and ratchets o secured to them at one end.

The two wheels h are connected together by the two pinions n, one of which is journaled on one support and the other on the other support, and one of the pinions is provided with a handle, Z. By turning this handle the two pinions cause the two shafts gto revolve in opposite directions, and thereby draw up or let out the elevating-bands r, for .lowering the coffin into the grave.

Upon the supports are pivoted the two spring-pawls s, which catch into the ratchets and hold the coffin suspended at any desired point.

The ends of the elevating bands or cords are fastened to the flanged collars t, feathered upon the two shafts so as to be :movable back and forth thereon, and thus adjusted for dit'- ferent lengths of cofns. One set of these collars is provided with suitable hooks or catches, so that the ends of the bands rcan be quickly detached therefrom and drawn from under the cofin after it has been lowered into the grave.

The operation is as follows: The supports e have the pins i drawn out from their ends, so as to nnfasten them, and then the supports are turned backward and outward, so as to hang down'by the side of the bier, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 3. ln turning the supports back the elevating bands or cords r are stretched across the top of the bier, so that when the coffin is laid upon the hier the bands will be underit. The bier having been adjusted in width and length to suit the size of the coffin, two boards, V, are laid across the top of the bier for the coiiin to rest upon. The supports are then raised into position again and fastened by the pins t', when the body is ready to be carried to the grave. After reaching the grave the bier is placed over its top, so that the coffin can be lowered directly into it, when the handle is operated so as to cause the coflin to be raised high enough to allow the boards to be drawn from under it. By throwing back the ratchets the coffin can be lowered into the grave. After the coffin has reached the bottom the detachable en ds of the bands are loosened, and then drawn from under the coffin.

Ve claim- `1. In a combined elevator and bier, an ad justable frame, c, to suit different-sized cofins, substantially as shown.

2. The supports c, having the elevatingshafts journaled upon them, substantially as described.

3. The elevating-shafts havin g the collars In testimony that We claim the foregoing We for the bands r feathered upon them, so as to have hereunto set our hands this 13th day of be adjustable back and forth, substantially as December7 A. D. 1878.

set forth. DANIEL W. ALTHOUSE. 4. The hinged supports c, carrying the ele- ISAAC W. ALTI-IOUSE.

vating-shafts, in combination with a mechan- Witnesses:

ism for revolving the shafts in di'erent direo- WM. W. HAAG,

tions, substantiallbr as specified. WILLIAM F. GUESS. 

